Taipei: Lawmakers pressed Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang on Wednesday over a widening military service evasion case involving up to 120 people including actors and vocalists. Liu told a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee that prosecutors had identified “unscrupulous doctors” suspected of issuing fraudulent medical certificates.
According to Focus Taiwan, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is working with the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) to transfer such cases for prosecution. “The most important thing is to prevent fraud,” lawmaker Huang Jie of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) remarked at the hearing. Huang highlighted concerns over the ease of obtaining fake medical records, stating that if people can spend NT$100,000 (US$3,253) to buy such records, it creates a perception of a loophole that can be exploited.
Minister Liu emphasized that individuals confirmed to have evaded military service must fulfill their duty before the age of 36, with other legal procedures applying to those over this age. In response to the scandal, lawmaker Chang Chih-lun of the Kuomintang (KMT) announced plans for cross-party amendments to the Alternative Service Implementation Act, proposing prison terms ranging from six months to five years for those intentionally avoiding alternative service. He further noted that individuals attempting to evade mobilization during wartime or national emergencies could face up to five years in prison.
Liu acknowledged that past court rulings in military service evasion cases often resulted in sentences of less than six months. Shen Che-fang, head of the MOI’s Department of Conscription Administration, indicated that the exemption standard for body mass index (BMI) will be tightened, requiring a BMI of 45 to qualify for exemption. Additionally, deliberate weight gain to avoid service is considered “basically impossible,” and high blood pressure will no longer qualify for exemption unless it leads to actual heart or organ damage.
The lawmakers’ discussion followed the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office’s announcement of a third wave of searches targeting individuals suspected of evading conscription. On Tuesday, well-known actors Hsiu Jie-kai, Chen Bolin, and Chang Shu-wei were released on NT$500,000 bail each, while former boyband “Lollipop F” member Liao Yun-chieh, known as Liljay, was freed on NT$350,000 bail.
On Wednesday, another entertainer, Hsieh Kunda, 43, a member of the boyband “Energy,” was detained upon arrival at Taoyuan International Airport and taken to the Yonghe Precinct Police Station in New Taipei for questioning. After being released on NT$500,000 bail, Hsieh expressed remorse, acknowledging that he had “let many people down” and promised to “take responsibility and fully cooperate with the investigation.”